First birthday party turns tragic as dog mauls baby to death

Las Vegas
-
Jeremiah Eshew-Shahan was celebrating his first birthday at his grandmother's home in Las Vegas when he was mauled to death by a mastiff-rhodesian mix weighing about 120 pounds.

According to Chris Shahan, the boy's grief-stricken father, Jeremiah who was just learning to walk, tried to grab the dog's fur while trying to get on his feet. The animal turned vicious, grabbed the boy by the head and sunk its teeth in, and began shaking the boy around.

Las Vegas Review Journal(LVRJ) reports 29-year-old Chris said the incident happened at about 10 p.m., just as they were about to go to bed. According to LVRJ:

Jeremiah's grandmother gave him a bottle and laid him down in the living room. The baby crawled over to Onion and - as he had done many times before - grabbed onto the 120-pound dog to help himself stand up.

Just then, Jeremiah's grandmother leaned over to pick him up. Onion suddenly attacked.

He latched his jaws around the boy's head and began shaking him back and forth.

Chris said the boy's grandmother struggled to rescue the boy out of the dog's grip while he rushed to his son's rescue. He said: "It took me about 20 seconds to run downstairs and I got the dog off of the baby. The baby’s face was torn off."

Jeremiah was rushed to St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus, and then flown by helicopter to UMC's trauma unit. Henderson Police say Jeremiah died from his injuries at about 1:45am on Saturday.

Las Vegas Sun reports Jeremiah turned one on Thursday but celebrated the occasion on Friday at his grandmother's home on the 1600 block of Navarre Lane near Arroyo Grande Boulevard.

According to Las Vegas Sun, Henderson Animal Control officers took the six-year-old dog to the Henderson animal shelter. According to officials, the dog is being declared vicious and will be euthanized after it has been quarantined for rabies.

The family is puzzled at the reason why the dog attacked the baby. According to Chris, the dog had never been aggressive. He was a "good dog" who helped get his mother through lung cancer.